Department of Health and Social Care

Abortion: Drugs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made and what data has been collected on the number of women who have taken early medical abortion pills at home who are not registered with the National Health Service.

Helen Whately: The Department does not hold information on the number of abortions for women who have taken early medical abortion pills at home, who are not registered with the National Health Service.

Mental Health Services: Children

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for children to complete neurodevelopmental assessments in England.

Helen Whately: It is not possible to estimate reliably the average waiting time for children to complete neurodevelopmental assessments in England from data currently held by NHS Digital.

Abortion: Drugs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women have received early medical abortion pills by post after the legal limit of nine weeks and six days.

Helen Whately: HSA4 Abortion Notification Forms received by the Department show that of the 117,584 abortions where one or both medications were taken at home in 2020, 26 were taken at 10 weeks gestation or later.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Disabled Children’s Partnerships Left Behind report, what discussions he had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the ring-fenced funding of covid-19 recovery policies for disabled children, young people, and families to allow them to regain lost progress and improve their ability in managing their conditions.

Helen Whately: We have had no specific discussions. However, as part of COVID-19 recovery planning we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services to disabled children. We have provided over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including for children’s social care. Since 2019-2020, the Government has provided additional funding for adults’ and children’s social care via the social care grant and is allocated £1.7 billion in 2021-2022. To improve access to healthcare, including for disabled children, we have also invested £6.6 billion from March to September 2021 to ensure health inequalities are tackled in National Health Service recovery plans.

Social Services: Job Satisfaction

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve employee satisfaction in the social care sector.

Helen Whately: The Department is working with the social care sector to improve employee satisfaction through supporting wellbeing and increasing recognition for staff. To support the wellbeing of social care workers, we have worked alongside the National Health Service and other organisations to provide a package of emotional, psychological and practical resources for the workforce. This includes support helplines, guidance, bereavement resources and a bespoke package of support for registered managers.We have also identified carers, paid and unpaid, as essential workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to give them much-needed acknowledgment of their critical role in keeping people safe and supported.

NHS: Mental Health Services

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many calls have been made to the NHS staff mental health hotline in each month since its launch in April 2020.

Helen Whately: The information requested is shown in the following table. MonthNumber of callsApril 20201,538May 20201,229June 2020895July 2020698August 2020453September 2020553October 2020550November 2020551December 2020571January 2021829February 2021518March 2021536April 2021411May 2021417June 2021499July 2021*292 Note:*Data to 21 July 2021.

Social Services

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of publishing a Social Care People Plan.

Helen Whately: We are engaging with frontline staff, sector leaders and our partners on how we can best support those who work in social care through professionalisation, wellbeing and recognition.

NHS and Social Services: Pay

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he made of the average pay differential between NHS staff and care staff in each of the last 10 years.

Helen Whately: It is not possible to make a conclusive assessment of the average pay differential between health and care staff as roles are not directly comparable. The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay, independent of central Government, which differs from national collectively agreed terms and conditions on which most staff are employed within the National Health Service.

Social Services: Fees and Charges

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the affordability of social care.

Helen Whately: We are committed to reforming the adult social care system, including the provision of affordable personalised care and will bring forward proposals in 2021.

NHS and Social Services: Pay

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to close the pay gap between people working in (a) the NHS and (b) social care.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of placing health and social care staff on comparable (a) pay scales and (b) terms and conditions.

Helen Whately: The Department currently has no plans to place care staff on National Health Service pay, terms and conditions. The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay, independent of central Government. This differs from national collectively agreed terms and conditions on which most staff are employed within the NHS.We are providing councils with access to over £1 billion of additional funding for social care in 2021-22 to ensure key pressures in the system are met, including the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage. An increase in the rate of the National Living Wage means many of the lowest paid care workers will have benefitted from at least a 2.2% pay rise from 1 April.

Abortion: Drugs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of women hospitalised as a result of using early medical abortion pills at home.

Helen Whately: The Department does not hold this information centrally.

Disability: Children

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the average amount of additional (a) therapy and (b) other health support that disabled children will potentially be required to have to help tackle the effect of missed services during the covid-19 outbreak.

Helen Whately: No specific assessment has been made. However, as part of COVID-19 recovery planning we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health services and support, including therapies, to disabled children. In 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement published guidance making clear that restoration of essential community services must be prioritised for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities aged up to 25 years old and who have an Education Health and Care Plan in place or are going through an assessment for one.

Dementia: Diagnosis

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to restore rates of dementia diagnosis to pre-covid-19 outbreak levels; and if he will take steps to further improve dementia diagnosis rates from those pre-covid-19 outbreak baselines.

Helen Whately: The Government has made £17 million available this financial year to NHS England and NHS Improvement to reduce dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to monitor the dementia diagnosis rates and deliver targeted efforts to support recovery of referrals, diagnosis and where appropriate, support access to post-diagnostic support. We will be setting out our plans on dementia for England for future years in due course.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to facilitate supported conversations with unvaccinated staff in care homes before those staff are required to have a covid-19 vaccine.

Helen Whately: We are delivering a programme of work to support vaccine uptake among social care staff, including communications to address the concerns of those who may be hesitant to receive the vaccine. The Department has developed a toolkit for the adult social care sector which includes resources addressing common concerns about the vaccines and advice on how to reassure people about taking the vaccine. The Department has also talked directly to managers of care homes for older adults with low vaccine uptake among their staff, signposting managers to resources they can use when speaking to staff to enable them to feel confident about the vaccine.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the uptake of the covid-19 vaccine following a supported conversation.

Nadhim Zahawi: No specific assessment has been made. Information on the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine following a supported conversation is not collected as part of the vaccine record.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent engagement he has had with participants on the Novavax trial.

Nadhim Zahawi: Ministers have had no recent engagement with trial participants.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women receiving the covid-19 vaccination; and what steps he is taking to ensure that equal numbers of men and women receive that vaccination.

Nadhim Zahawi: No specific comparative assessment has been made on the number of men and women receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.The ‘UK COVID-19 vaccine uptake plan’ published in February sets out the Government’s approach to ensure that all groups have the opportunity to receive the vaccine. The plan is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-uptake-plan/uk-covid-19-vaccine-uptake-plan

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Mr Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Question 27052 tabled by the Rt hon. Member for Forest Dean on 5 July 2021, for what reason it has not been possible to provide an Answer by the named day of 8 July 2021; and by which date he plans to provide a substantive Answer to that Question.

Edward Argar: I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer of 22 July to Question 27052.

Earwax: Medical Treatments

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing ear wax removal procedures on the NHS for (a) pensioners and (b) people on low incomes.

Edward Argar: NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise manual ear syringing is no longer advised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence due to risks associated, such as trauma to their ear drum or infection. General practitioner (GP) practices are increasingly recommending self-care methods as the primary means to support the safe removal of ear wax.However, if a GP practice considers removal clinically necessary, the procedure should either be undertaken at the practice or the patient should be referred to an appropriate service depending on the arrangements in place in the local area, including for pensioners and those on low incomes. Local commissioners are responsible for meeting the health needs of their local population and should continue to ensure there is appropriate access to ear wax services.

Care UK

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value was of payments made to Care in each of the last 10 years.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value was of payments made to Spire in each of the last 10 years.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value was of payments made to Virgin Care in each of the last 10 years.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value was of payments made to Circle Health in each of the last 10 years.

Edward Argar: The information is not held in the format requested. Contractual arrangements made with providers at clinical commissioning group and National Health Service trust level are not held centrally.

Intensive Care

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many items of ICU clinical consumables his Department plans to dispose of as part of its work on rebalancing the ICU clinical consumables stock.

Edward Argar: Work on rebalancing the intensive care unit (ICU) consumables stockpile is focussed on preserving and realising the value of stock under management through usage, sales and appropriate donations. Product currently identified as inappropriate for sale or donation is scheduled to be disposed of through recycling and energy recovery.This currently represents one million items or 0.11% of the total number of products held in the ICU consumables COVID-19 stockpile.

Department of Health and Social Care: China

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) the company name and (b) the contract value for each contract that a Chinese or Chinese-financed company holds with (i) his Department and (ii) the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: The location of all overseas suppliers with which the Department currently holds contracts could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Information is not held on whether a contract is held with a Chinese-financed company.NHS England and NHS Improvement do not collect this information centrally.

NHS: Contracts

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) he and (b) his officials have had discussions with (i) the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and (ii) officials in that Department on suppliers to the NHS with reference to the National Security and Investment Act 2021; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Argar: We have worked jointly with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the investment security community across Government as contributors to the investment screening regime. The Department has also consulted with agencies and partner organisations to provide input for the development of National Security and Investment Act 2021.

Mental Health

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a (a) new duty for Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to promote parity of esteem between mental and physical health and (b) requirement for a mental health representative on every ICB.

Edward Argar: A specific assessment has not yet been made on a duty for integrated care boards (ICBs) to promote parity of esteem between mental and physical health. The principle of parity of esteem was enshrined in the Health and Social Care Act 2012.Legislation will set out minimum membership of ICBs and which will include representatives from National Health Service providers and we fully expect mental health trusts to play a central role in decision-making. Local areas will also have the flexibility to determine any further representation in their area, whether on the ICB or within the integrated care partnership.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to answer Question 10131, tabled on 29 May 2021, by the Rt hon. Member for New Forest East.

Edward Argar: I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer of 26 July to Question 10131.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide an Answer to Question 29135 on Coronavirus: Disease Control by 15 July 2021 which is the last sitting day of the House of Commons before covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 26 July to Question 29135.

Borderline Substances Advisory Committee

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform independent report, published May 2021, what assessment he has made of how the (a) work of the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances and (b) the Medical Nutrition Industry were taken into account in that report.

Edward Argar: We have not made such an assessment.

Motor Neurone Disease: Drugs

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been awarded to research bodies to investigate potential drug combinations for the treatment of symptoms of motor neurone disease.

Edward Argar: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR has invested over £10 million in motor neurone disease (MND) research over the last five years. This includes research on potential treatments to improve survival rate, function and quality of life for people with MND. The NIHR has spent £2.4 million on research to investigate drug combinations for the treatment of MND. The NIHR is also funding research on drug combinations to treat MND through NIHR research infrastructure, although the information requested is not available at individual study level.

Department for Education

Department of Education: Email

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he or any of the Ministers of his Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member for Vauxhall to the answer I gave on 5 July 2021 to Questions 23184 and 23186.

Ministry of Justice

Family Courts: Disclosure of Information

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve transparency in the Family Court process.

Chris Philp: Ensuring that decisions made in family proceedings are open and transparent to the public is something to which this Government gives careful consideration. We recognise that there is a delicate balance to be struck between ensuring that family proceedings are open and transparent to ensure adequate public scrutiny and the principle of public justice, whilst also ensuring that  we protect the privacy of vulnerable children and families who are party to such proceedings.In terms of attendance at hearings, most family proceedings are held in private. However, ‘accredited media representatives’ have been permitted to attend most types of hearings in family proceedings for several years. In addition, a pilot scheme to allow duly authorised lawyers, attending for journalistic, research or public legal educational purposes (colloquially referred to as 'legal bloggers') access to those same types of hearings was initiated in October 2018. That pilot scheme is scheduled to end in December 2021, but it is intended that it should be replaced by permanent provision in court rules, before that end date.In terms of disclosure of information from family proceedings, for example by reporting it in the press or online, there are various legal provisions which determine if and when it is possible to disclose such information. These include laws on reporting restrictions and contempt of court. Judges dealing with cases have discretion to allow publication of information from family proceedings. In addition, court rules include provision about when it is possible to make disclosures of information without this being a potential contempt of court.The livestreaming of some Court of Appeal family proceedings is also now possible as a result of amendments made by the Court of Appeal (Recording and Broadcasting) (Amendment) Order 2020, which extended the existing livestreaming provision to cover family proceedings. Under this scheme, members of the public may view selected Court of Appeal family cases on the internet. Members of the judiciary select suitable cases for livestreaming, having taken into account the public interest. Proceedings involving litigants in person, and those with specific reporting restrictions, will not be selected. Participants in all selected hearings will be given the opportunity beforehand to object or to obtain further information.Further recommendations for increasing transparency will be carefully considered to ensure that the children and families who use the family courts continue to be protected, whilst also ensuring adequate scrutiny is given to the family courts.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Afghanistan: Females

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much the UK Government has spent in the last 10 years on tackling violence against women and girls in Afghanistan; and what comparative assessment he has made of the level of violence against women and girls in that country (a) five years ago and (b) in 2021.

Nigel Adams: All our programming, including on health and education, considers gender equality, and our work to promote peace benefits all Afghans.UK Government spending to tackle violence against women and girls in Afghanistan has supported more than 28,000 survivors of Gender Based Violence to access health care, counselling, basic legal guidance, and referrals to law enforcement and housing. Additionally, the UK has addressed root causes through the UK's ground breaking What Works to Prevent Violence Programme, which received £25 million globally between 2014-20, with a further £67.5 million committed in 2021. Rates of violence against women and girls are estimated to continue to be high in Afghanistan. It is likely that rates increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as they did elsewhere in the world. We are also concerned that they are increasing with the resurgence in insecurity.

Ministry of Defence

National Flagship: Procurement

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the proposed Royal Yacht will be classified as a warship and its construction restricted to UK shipyards.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Ministry of Defence does not classify the National Flagship as a warship. It will be built in the UK.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

River Tamar: Radioactive Waste

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Ministry of Defence on their proposals to release untreated radioactive rainwater from HM Naval Base Devonport into the river Tamar.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) was in discussions with HM Naval Base (HMNB) Devonport on their proposals for the disposal of rainwater containing tritium (a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) between December 2020 and June 2021. At that point HMNB Devonport formally submitted an application to vary its Approval for the receipt and disposal of radioactive waste. At present this low level contaminated rainwater passes through the effluent treatment plant operated by the neighbouring nuclear site, Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd. HMNB Devonport now wants to release the rainwater directly into the River Tamar/Hamoaze. This would result in a very minor increase in dose to the public – equal to less than five minutes of the average annual background radiation dose in the UK. The total dose from all pathways and sources of radiation from the Dockyard was less than 0.005 mSv in 2019, which was less than 0.5 percent of the dose limit. Overall this is a very low level of radioactivity that will be discharged to the environment. The environmental impact of the tritium discharge is therefore minimal. Discussions included the EA giving pre-application advice to the dockyard to ensure that the application would contain sufficient information to allow the EA to assess the application in a timely manner. The EA consulted with the public until 27 July about this application and will now work to determine the application. The consultation can be found here: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/nuclear/application-to-vary-the-radioactive-substances-app/ The radioactive substances provisions of the Environmental Permitting Regulations do not apply to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). However, there is a Memorandum of Understanding between the EA and the MoD which provides for equivalent administrative arrangements. The Approval held by the MoD for HMNB Devonport is the equivalent of a Permit that would be held by a civilian operator. The EA will continue to monitor pollution in the River Tamar/Hamoaze and the potential impact of the HMNB discharge if the application is approved.